Nano Structured Coatings with High Wear Resistance and Superior Photostability/Weatherability

SpecialChem
/
Sep 3, 2003

Organic-inorganic hybrid systems present promising applications as protective coatings. Sol-gel processing has been widely used to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid materials. By sol-gel, it is possible to build up homogeneous hybrid structures from the molecular level. A drawback of this method is that raw materials are often expensive.
In this paper, commercial organic lacquers and epoxy resins have been modified by the addition of nanoparticles to improve the key properties of scratch and wear resistance as well as photostability/weatherability. This new method has the advantage, in that it starts from existing, well-developed formulations to which a sol containing nanoparticles is added. After curing, the modified systems give transparent coatings with high wear and scratch resistance, combined with superior photostability and weatherability. Several examples will be used to illustrate the variety of application fields.
For a long time it has been desirable to combine the properties of organic compounds, e.g. flexibility and low moulding temperatures, with inorganic compounds.